Melania Trump has chosen to highlight real-world impacts of her initiatives by inviting special guests to the State of the Union address. Sources close to the First Lady informed the Daily Mail that ten-year-old Everest Nevraumont and 24-year-old Sierra Burns will be seated alongside her as President Donald Trump delivers his address to Congress. Each year, guests at the State of the Union are selected to reflect the administration’s focal points. This year, the President is expected to emphasize the economy, spotlighting stories of ordinary Americans.
Melania Taps ‘AI Education Advocate’ for New Initiative
Nevraumont was invited due to her role as an ‘AI education advocate and history champion.’ This aligns with Melania Trump’s focus on education and technology for American youth, according to a source. Since the outset of the Trump administration, the First Lady has prioritized protecting children from emerging technological threats. This concern is part of her ‘Be Best’ initiative, launched in 2018, which targets cyberbullying among its three pillars. In the President’s second term, Melania has expanded her focus to include artificial intelligence, urging caution regarding its impact on young people.
Presidential AI Challenge Encourages Creative Tech Use
In a September speech at the White House’s East Room, Melania Trump addressed technology leaders, emphasizing the need for responsible management of AI’s growth. However, she also encourages children to engage with AI creatively, exemplified by her Presidential AI Challenge introduced in August. Nevraumont, a student at Alpha school in Austin, Texas—a private institution offering AI-tailored education plans—caught the attention of Education Secretary Linda McMahon during a September visit. Nevraumont shared her impressive academic progress, having advanced from a fourth-grade to a ninth-grade reading level in just one year.
The source described the fifth grader as ‘really super smart’ and ‘ridiculously incredible when it comes to history.’ Nevraumont has even given a TedX talk on how to be a better learner of historical facts. In it, she talked about using AI to study for the History Bee, with her father plugging in previous questions used to see what might be asked in a future competition. ‘Almost as important as figuring out how to learn is figuring out what to learn. In a different context, this is what Donald Rumsfeld called his “unknown unknowns,”‘ Nevraumont said, prompting laughs from the adult audience for the Bush era reference.
She said the AI-generated questions were not perfect, ‘but pretty helpful also,’ as Nevraumont had the best finish for a girl of her age in the National History Bee. Burns is a former foster child who is among the recipients of the First Lady’s efforts to secure housing for those previously in foster care. The Foster Youth to Independence initiative is a program through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, offering up to 36 months of rental assistance to help young people avoid homelessness. The First Lady lobbied to have $25 million included in the fiscal year 2026 budget for the program. The move was part of Melania’s larger Fostering the Future initiative, which falls under her trademark ‘Be Best’ brand, and was first launched in 2021, when the President was out of office.
Since returning to the White House, the President signed a Fostering the Future executive order alongside the First Lady in November. Part of that initiative was also a scholarship program, which has found homes at major universities, including Vanderbilt, the University of Georgia, the University of Alabama, the University of Texas, the University of Florida, the University of Miami and others. But the First Lady’s guest will reflect the housing portion of her work. While Burns doesn’t have a robust online presence like Nevraumont, the source teased that she was also ‘super impressive.’ The President will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday at 9pm ET.
